Johanna Rayman

Working on a computer all day can be hard on your body. Wrist pain, back pain, eye strain, and poor circulation are all problems that office workers may experience. However, it is not necessarily repetitive movements alone that cause these problems.¹ How you move and sit plays a major role in protecting you from strain on joints and muscles.

Ergonomic equipment like lumbar supports and wrist rests are meant to guide your body into a more comfortable and supported position, but if you are not using the equipment properly, it could just create new problems. It's important to organize your body as well as your work station.

How do you get a well-organized body? If someone tells you to "sit up straight!" you will probably arch your low back, pull your shoulders back, and call it good. But this puts a lot of strain on the muscles along your spine, and you will probably find it tiring to sit this way for long. Rather than thinking "straight," it is more useful to know how to find support through your skeleton.

This workshop is about learning to feel for yourself the most supported, comfortable way to sit, so you can be alert and pain-free on the job. It includes information about the anatomy of sitting and the positioning of equipment, and three Awareness Through Movement® lessons to help you develop a better sense of what "good posture" is for you. Topics include:

• exploring how you use your feet and sitting bones so you have a supportive base
• exploring arm and hand positions to prevent wrist and hand problems
• softening your eyes and the back of your neck to avoid strain

This workshop can be presented as a 4-hour workshop, two 2-hour workshops, or in three 1- to 1˝-hour sessions.

Awareness Through Movement^® classes are designed to help you notice what you do, how you do it, and to explore new ways of doing it. The lessons are easy and anyone can participate at their own pace. Regular office clothes can be worn. The lessons are done sitting at a table.

Johanna Rayman is a Guild Certified Feldenkrais Practitioner^cm. Her training in the Feldenkrais Method® included four years of training in subjects such as helping the nervous system develop new habits, functional anatomy, and human development. Johanna is skilled in helping people to feel for themselves the most comfortable way to move in a given activity. She has taught Awareness Through Movement® for nearly three years, including classes on sitting, biking, running and gardening.

For more information about Awareness Through Movement, the Feldenkrais Method, or Johanna Rayman, please visit www.feldenkrais.com and www.johannarayman.com.

To discuss scheduling a workshop in your office, or for more information, call 503-380-5437, or email me.  

References:

1. Szabo, R.M., and King, K.J.: Repetitive Stress Injury: Diagnosis or Self-Fulfilling Prophecy? Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, 82: 1314 (2000).